


Slow And Steady Wins The Race

by decadent_mousse



Series: We Don't Skip A Beat [3]
Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Anxiety, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Fluff, Heartbeat Kink, Hearts, M/M, Stress Relief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-27 02:21:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14415561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/decadent_mousse/pseuds/decadent_mousse
Summary: Newt's having a bad day.  Hermann has a solution.





	Slow And Steady Wins The Race

**Author's Note:**

> Another prompt fill! _"Come listen to my heart"_ for [ClassyFangirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClassyFangirl/pseuds/ClassyFangirl).

Newt was having, to put it mildly, a  _ really _ shitty day.  First, a kaiju sample he’d been waiting on for four weeks had gotten damaged in transit and was literally rotting away by the time it reached him.  Then he’d remembered, at around noon, that he’d forgotten to take his meds, which was always fun.  _ Then _ he had to deal with a bunch of suits coming in to appraise whether or not the science division deserved more funding, which was always a fun time except, no, Newt hated people.  Well, he hated  _ those _ people, specifically, and trying to play polite and subservient had never been a strong point of his.

By the time things had actually settled down, Newt was wound so tight he felt like he was going to vibrate out of his skin.  Or explode.

All he had to do was hold out until he was done with work for the day and could go to his room to have a breakdown in peace, and that was the joke because now that he was one of only two people actually left  _ in _ the research division, he actually never  _ stopped _ working, really, so he was just kind of fucked.  

Several cans of Red Bull and a cold cup of coffee later, his disposition really hadn’t improved a whole lot, but at least now he felt like he’d moved past vibrating and exploding and had transcended the space-time continuum, which relieved some -- not a lot, but  _ some _ \-- of the pressure.  Or at least, he’d thought it had until Hermann’s voice startled him out of what he was doing and what he’d been doing was staring at a splotch of congealing kaiju blood for the better part of -- well, he wasn’t sure how long, to be honest.

“Huh?”

“I asked if you were all right.”

“Oh.  Sure.”

He really wasn’t.  He was finally coming down from his caffeine high and the exhaustion and tension were hitting him hard again.  His heart was beating so fast and hard he was pretty sure his entire body counted as a pulse point and he wasn’t even in a position to really appreciate that because he was tired, really tired, and also felt like he was piloting his body from afar like some kind of meat jaeger.  Was it possible to dissociate and be hyper-aware of  _ everything _ at the same time?  It must’ve been because it was happening.

Hermann wasn’t fooled.  It was kind of uncanny how easily he could see right through him, but Newt guessed he’d signed up for that kind of thing when they’d started dating.  Probably had signed up for it even earlier, to be honest, because they’d practically been living together already before that.

“You need to rest.”

“What I  _ need _ is that kaiju sample, like, yesterday and for everyone to stop riding our asses and--”

“Newton...”

Newt let out a big sigh and reached up to rub his eyes, but caught himself, because wow, if he thought he had problems now, he’d have had much worse ones if he rubbed his eyes with his  _ gloves still on _ , and there was definitely no way Hermann had missed that one.  He hastily took them off and threw them on the table. 

The look Hermann gave him wasn’t even annoyed.  It’d been a lot easier to brush off if it had been.  Newt really, really grudgingly let himself be steered toward the lab doors.

“Can’t I just take a nap on the couch?”

“So you can sneak back to work the moment I turn my back on you?  I think not.”

Newt grumbled, but followed Hermann out of the lab, down the hall, and to the room they’d been sharing for six months.

“You know, if I’m getting a time-out, you’re getting one, too.”

“Firstly: a time-out, really?  Secondly: I didn’t intend on leaving you.”

“Oh.”

Hermann shrugged out of his coat, while Newt yanked off his boots, undid his tie, and half-squeezed, half-crawled out of his pants and that was all he had the energy for before collapsing into bed, but even when Hermann laid down beside him, Newt couldn’t fall asleep.  He was beyond exhausted, he could barely move -- he should’ve been more than ready to pass out, but his blood was still kind of humming through his body and he was pretty sure sleep was actually biologically impossible in the state he was in.

He could feel Hermann’s eyes on him.

“Are you still awake?”

“I’m pretty sure I’m more awake than anyone else in the history of the entire  _ world _ has ever been awake, so, yes.”  He felt Hermann tug gently at one of his sleeves and he rolled over to look at him.  “I’m not doing this on purpose, okay? I’m just-- really wired.”

“I know.”

“I don’t think I’m designed for sleep.”

“The fact that you’re clearly suffering from sleep deprivation would suggest otherwise.”

Well, he definitely  _ was _ suffering, that much was true.

“Come listen to my heart.”

Newt’s poor brain, which had already been cartwheeling for the better part of the day, did a kickflip that he could’ve sworn actually made his head hurt.  “What?”

“I think it might help you relax.”

The suggestion alone had done the exact opposite of relax him, not that he could get much more worked up than he already was, but Hermann didn’t have to tell him twice.  Newt scooted a little lower on the bed and flopped over onto him, head coming to rest on Hermann’s chest. There was honestly never a time when Newt didn’t feel like listening to Hermann’s heart.  It just wasn’t a feeling on the Newt Geiszler Spectrum of Emotions. And, yeah, actually it was pretty soothing to listen to.

Hermann had been just as stressed and overworked lately as Newt had been, but nobody would’ve known it by the calm steadiness of his heart.  Either he was really good at compartmentalizing or he was a lot better at processing stress than Newt was.

Both?  Probably both.

“This  _ is _ kinda nice.”

“‘Kind of?’”

Newt laughed softly and closed his eyes.  “Come on, you know I love listening to it.  It’s the best heart this side of the Pacific.”  In the entire world, honestly, but Newt wasn’t going to _say_ that.  That’d just be embarrassing.  

Hermann’s heart sped up, just a little, at that statement and Newt grinned.  He was charming as  _ hell _ .  

He was also, somehow, miraculously calming down enough that he’d almost dare to say he was feeling sleepy.  The kiss of death -- which Hermann had probably been saving for when Newt’s guard was finally down -- was Hermann’s fingers running through his hair, which might’ve been Newt’s second greatest weakness right under hearts.

“Mmm.”

“Good?”

Hermann was doing  _ something _ to his scalp, that was just this side of ticklish, that was making a pleasant tingle work its way across and down the back of his head and neck.

“Yeah.”

Newt had no idea how long they laid together like that, but eventually, the movements of Hermann’s fingers stopped, his hand resting lightly on Newt’s head.  Newt could tell by how slow his breathing and pulse were that he had either fallen asleep or was pretty close to it and a short while later, Newt was asleep too.

**Author's Note:**

> I am and will forever be a sucker for soothing heart tropes. It's also a scientifically proven thing that people in love, especially when there's actual physical contact, do tend to sync up so there's your cute heart fact for the day.


End file.
